Flexible freight bag and method of transferring cargo using the same

ABSTRACT

A flexible freight bag includes a flexible base unit having first and second panel halves that are interconnected to form a flexible base panel, and a hanging strap assembly connected to the flexible base unit. The first and second panel halves have adjacent inner end portions that are fastened to each other to form a seam across the flexible base panel. A fastener unit is attached to the inner end portions of the first and second panel halves and is operable to be detached from at least one of the inner end portions so that the inner end portions are separable from each other.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 101145246, filed on Dec. 3, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a freight bag, and more particularly to a freight bag that is made of a flexible material and that can be easily transported by a lifting machine, such as a stacker crane or a forklift, and a method of transferring cargo using the flexible freight bag.

2. Description of the Related Art

A flexible freight bag, also known as a flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) or a ton bag, is often used in the field of food, chemicals, etc. for transporting bulk cargo.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a perspective view of a conventional flexible freight bag 1 and a method of transferring a cargo 20 using the conventional flexible freight bag 1, respectively. The conventional flexible freight bag 1 includes a rectangular base 11, two intersecting reinforcing straps 12 disposed on a bottom surface of the base 11, a surrounding wall 14 connected to the base 11, and a plurality of loop members 13 that are connected to the corners of the surrounding wall 14 and that are adapted to be hooked by a lifting machine, such as a stacker crane or a forklift.

In use, after a cargo 20 is placed in the flexible freight bag 1, the flexible freight bag 1 and the cargo 20 may be temporarily stored in a storage container 21. When the cargo 20 is to be shipped, the lifting machine is used to lift and move the flexible freight bag 1 together with the cargo 20 from the storage container 21 to a shipping container 22.

Although this method of transferring the cargo 20 from the storage container 21 to the shipping container is time-saving and convenient, because the conventional flexible freight bag 1 is made of a material with a strong structure so as to carry the weight of the cargo 20, the manufacturing cost of the flexible freight bag 1 is very high. If the flexible freight bag 1 is shipped together with the cargo 20 to the customer, this will incur additional costs.

If the conventional flexible freight bag 1 is to be recycled for reuse, the cargo 20 must first be removed and transferred from the flexible freight bag 1 to the lifting machine, after which the cargo 20 is transported to the shipping container 22 by the lifting machine. This method of transferring the cargo 20 is not only slow, but also the forks of the lifting machine may cause damage to the cargo 20. Especially, when the cargo 20 is composed of a number of small packaging bags, the bags located at the bottom of the stack are easily stuck together due to the weight of the bags at the top thereof, so that the bags are prone to get damaged during separation thereof. Thus, how to save time and effort in transferring the cargo 20 from one container to the other and how to recycle for reuse the flexible freight bag 1 in order to save costs are issues that need to be improved in the design of the flexible freight bag.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a flexible freight bag that can carry a cargo and that can be recycled for reuse. A method of transferring the cargo using the flexible freight bag is also provided.

According to one aspect of this invention, a flexible freight bag comprises a flexible base unit, a hanging strap assembly and a fastener unit. The flexible base unit includes first and second panel halves that are interconnected to form a flexible base panel. The first and second panel halves have adjacent inner end portions that are fastened to each other to form a seam across the flexible base panel. The hanging strap assembly is connected to the flexible base unit. The fastener unit is attached to the inner end portions of the first and second panel halves and is operable to be detached from at least one of the inner end portions so that the inner end portions are separable from each other.

According to another aspect of this invention, a method of transferring cargo includes the steps of:

lifting a flexible freight bag from a storage container using a lifting machine, the flexible freight bag being loaded with a cargo and including

-   -   a flexible base unit including first and second panel halves         that are interconnected to form a flexible base panel, the first         and second panel halves having adjacent inner end portions that         are fastened to each other to form a seam across the flexible         base panel,     -   a hanging strap assembly connected to the flexible base unit,         and     -   a fastener unit attached to the inner end portions of the first         and second panel halves;

transporting the flexible freight bag from the storage container to a shipping container; and

detaching the fastener unit from the at least one of the inner end portions so as to separate the inner end portions and to permit falling of the cargo by gravity into the shipping container.

The beneficial effect of this invention resides in that because the first and second panel halves are temporarily fastened to each other by the fastener unit, during shipment of the cargo, by simply operating the fastener unit, the cargo can be separated from the flexible freight bag, thereby achieving the purpose of recycling the flexible freight bag for reuse.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional flexible freight bag;

FIG. 2 illustrates how the conventional flexible freight bag together with a cargo is transferred from one container to the other;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of a flexible freight bag according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of the first preferred embodiment in an assembled state;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the first preferred embodiment, illustrating how a fastener unit fastened together first and second panel halves of the first preferred embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates the steps involved in a method of transferring a cargo from a storage container to a shipping container using the flexible freight bag of the first preferred embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the second preferred embodiment of the flexible freight bag according to this invention;

FIG. 8 is an assembled perspective view of the third preferred embodiment of the flexible freight bag according to this invention;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary assembled sectional view of the fourth preferred embodiment of the flexible freight bag according to this invention; and

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the fifth preferred embodiment of the flexible freight bag according to this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before the present invention is described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying preferred embodiments, it should be noted herein that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the first preferred embodiment of a flexible freight bag 100 according to the present invention is shown to comprise a flexible base unit, a hanging strap assembly 4 and a fastener unit 33.

The flexible base unit includes first and second panel halves 31, 31′ and a surrounding wall 5. Each of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ is a mirror image of the other, and is made of a flexible and strong structural material. The first and second panel halves 31, 31′ cooperatively form a rectangular flexible base panel 3 of the freight bag 100 when interconnected. The first and second panel halves 31, 31′ have adjacent inner end portions 311 that are overlapped at about 10 centimeters in width when the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ are interconnected. In this embodiment, each of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ is made of polypropylene. Alternatively, each of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ may be made of other materials, such as nylon, linen fabric, or a combination of a plurality of material layers. The surrounding wall 5 includes two surrounding wall halves 51 each of which extends upwardly from an outer peripheral edge of a respective one of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′.

Two reinforcing straps 32 are fixed to a bottom surface of each of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′, and intersect with each other at the inner end portion 311 of a corresponding first or second panel half 31, 31′ to form a V-shaped structure, as best shown in FIG. 3.

In this embodiment, the fastener unit 33 includes two fastener holes 332 formed in the inner end portion 311 of the second panel half 31′ at an intersection 321 of the two reinforcing straps 32, and a fastening member 331 in the form of a cord. The fastening member or cord 331 has a fixed section 3310 fixed to a bottom surface of the inner end portion 311 of the first panel half 31 at an intersection 321 of the two reinforcing straps 32, and two cord sections 3311 extending downwardly from the fixed section 3310.

The hanging strap assembly 4 includes four hanging straps 41 connected to the surrounding wall 5 and the flexible base panel 3 at four corners thereof. Each of the hanging straps 41 has a top end that is folded back to form a closed loop. Each of the surrounding wall half 51 has a height shorter than a length of each hanging strap 41.

Referring to FIG. 6, in combination with FIG. 5, to use the flexible freight bag 100 of this embodiment, the inner end portions 311 of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ are first stacked one above the other. Next, the cord sections 3310 (see FIG. 3) are inserted through the respective fastener holes 332 in the inner end portion 311 of the second panel half 31′, and are then tied into a knot 3312 with two free end portions 3313 extending downwardly from the knot 3312, thereby interconnecting the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ to form the flexible base panel 3 of the flexible freight bag 100. The first and second panel halves 31, 31′ are fastened to each other to form a seam across the flexible base panel 3. At this time, a cargo 20 can be placed on the flexible base panel 3, after which the flexible freight bag 100 together with the cargo 20 is stored in a storage container 21.

For shipment of the cargo 20, a lifting tool of a lifting machine, such as a stacker crane, may be used to lift and transport the loaded flexible freight bag 100 from the storage container 21 to a shipping container 22. When the flexible freight bag 100 and the cargo 20 are located above the shipping container 22, the knot 3312 is untied to separate the inner end portions 311 of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′. At this time, the cargo 20 can fall from the flexible base panel 3 to the shipping container 22 by gravity. Hence, transferring of the cargo 20 from the storage container 21 to the shipping container 22 is accomplished.

It should be noted that after tying the cord sections 3311 into a knot 3312, the length of each of the free end portions 3313 should be larger than a shortest distance between the knot 3312 and a lateral edge of the flexible base panel 3. As such, a worker or the machine can pull the free end port ions 3313 at a position outside the range of the falling cargo 20 to untie the knot 3312, so that the worker or the machine can be prevented from being hurt or smashed by the falling cargo 20.

In this embodiment, only one fastener unit 33 is disclosed. Alternatively, a plurality of fastener units 33 may be spaced and provided according to the requirements.

Referring to FIG. 7, the second preferred embodiment of the flexible freight bag 100 according to this invention is shown to be similar to the first preferred embodiment. However, in this embodiment, each of the reinforcing straps 32′ has a substantially W-shaped structure, and includes a plurality of folded parts 321′ arranged in a staggered manner. Each of the folded parts 321′ may have a square or trapezoidal shape. In this embodiment, each folded part 321′ has a trapezoidal shape. Further, the fastener unit 33 includes two fastening members 331 respectively located on two of the folded parts 321′ that are aligned at the inner end portion 311 of the first panel half 31, and two pairs of fastener holes 332 respectively located in two of the folded parts 321′ that are aligned at the inner end portion 311 of the second panel half 31′. The structure of each of the fastening members 331 and the fastener holes 332 is similar to that described in the first preferred embodiment. The advantages and effects of the first preferred embodiment can be similarly achieved using the second preferred embodiment.

Moreover, the flexible freight bag 100 of this embodiment may not include a surrounding wall 5.

Referring to FIG. 8, the third preferred embodiment of the flexible freight bag 100 according to this invention is shown to be similar to the first preferred embodiment. However, in this embodiment, one row of the fastener holes 332 is formed in the inner end portion 311 of each of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′, and the fastening member 331 is in the form of a cord that alternately threads through the fastener holes 332 in the inner end portion 311 of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′. The fastener holes 332 extend through the flexible base panel 3 in a direction parallel to a thickness direction thereof. Further, the surrounding wall 5 (see FIG. 4) of the flexible freight bag 100 is omitted.

The hanging straps 41 are respectively connected to four lateral edges of the flexible base panel 3 in proximity to the four corners thereof to provide enhanced stability during suspension.

Before the flexible freight bag 100 of this embodiment is put into use, the inner end portions 311 of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ are first brought in alignment with each other, after which the fastening member or cord 331 is threaded alternately into the fastener holes 332 in the inner end portions 311 of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ so as to interconnect the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ in a detachable manner. To unload the cargo 20 (see FIG. 6), the cord 331 is pulled out from the fastener holes 332 so as to separate the inner end portions 311 of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′, and the cargo 20 will fall from the flexible base panel 3. Hence, in this embodiment, recycling of the flexible freight bag 100 is very convenient.

Referring to FIG. 9, the fourth preferred embodiment of the flexible freight bag 100 according to this invention is shown to be generally identical to the third preferred embodiment in structure. However, in this embodiment, the inner end portions 311 of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ are overlapped with each other such that the fastener holes 332 in the first panel half 31 are respectively aligned with the fastener holes 332 in the second panel half 31′ in a top to bottom direction. The fastening member or cord 331 is threaded up and down through the aligned fastener holes 332 so as to detachably connect the first and second panel halves 31, 31′.

Further, the two free ends of the cord 331 may be respectively provided with a pull ring so as to facilitate pulling of the cord 331 out of the fastener holes 332 by the worker or the machine. Moreover, the flexible freight bag 100 of this embodiment may further include a surrounding wall as described in the first preferred embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 10, the fifth preferred embodiment of the flexible freight bag 100 according to this invention is shown to be generally identical to the third preferred embodiment in structure. The difference resides in the structures of the fastener unit 33′ and the inner end portions 311′ of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′. In this embodiment, the inner end portion 311′ of each of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ includes a plurality of spaced-apart tabs 3111 extending along the length thereof and having rolled edges that respectively form the fastener holes 332′ of the fastener unit 33′. The fastener holes 332′ extend through the flexible base panel 3 (see FIG. 8) in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the flexible base panel 3. The fastening member 331′ of the fastener unit 33′ is in the form of an elongated rod.

To assemble the flexible freight bag 100, the inner end portions 311′ of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ are first overlapped with each other such that the fastener holes 332′ are disposed in alignment along a straight line, after which the fastening member or cord 331′ is threaded through the fastener holes 332′ in the inner end portions 311′ of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′, thereby interconnecting detachably the first and second panel halves 31, 31′. The cargo 20 (see FIG. 6) can then be loaded to the freight bag 100 at this time. To unload the cargo 20, the rod 331′ is simply pull out from the fastener holes 332′ to separate the first and second panel halves 31, 31′. Simultaneously, the cargo 20 drops from the freight bag 100 to a predetermined position or a designated container by gravity. Recycling of the flexible freight bag 100 in this embodiment is easier than the first preferred embodiment.

Further, to prevent abrasion of the edge of each fastener hole 332′ when the rod 331′ is pulled out, the fastener unit 33′ of this embodiment further includes a plurality of wear-resistant tubular sleeves 334 respectively disposed in the fastener holes 332′. Alternatively, a lining may be provided in each fastener hole 332′. Moreover, the flexible freight bag 100 of this embodiment may further include a surrounding wall as described in the first preferred embodiment.

From the aforesaid description, it is apparent that the flexible freight bag 100 of this invention is not only novel in structure, but also can permit easy separation of the cargo 20 from the cargo bag 100 by simply operating the fastening member 331, 331′ of the fastener unit 33, 33′. By operating the fastening member 331, 331′, the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ can be detached from each other. Hence, the flexible freight bag 100 can be recycled for reuse, and the costs thereof can be effectively saved.

As shown in FIG. 6, a method of transferring the cargo 20 using the flexible freight bag 100 of this invention includes the steps of: lifting the loaded flexible freight bag 100 from a storage container 21 using a lifting machine (not shown);

transporting the flexible freight bag 100 from the storage container 21 to a shipping container 22; and

detaching the fastener unit 33 from the at least one of the inner end portions 311 of the first and second panel halves 31, 31′ so as to separate the inner end portions 311 and to permit falling of the cargo 20 from the flexible freight bag 100 into the shipping container 22 by gravity.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A flexible freight bag comprising: a flexible base unit including first and second panel halves that are interconnected to form a flexible base panel, said first and second panel halves having adjacent inner end portions that are fastened to each other to form a seam across said flexible base panel; a hanging strap assembly connected to said flexible base unit; and a fastener unit attached to said inner end portions of said first and second panel halves and being operable to be detached from at least one of said inner end portions so that said inner end portions are separable from each other.
 2. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said fastener unit includes at least two fastener holes formed in said inner end portion of at least one of said first and second panel halves, and a fastening member threading through said fastener holes, said fastening member being removable from said fastener holes to unfasten said inner end portions of said first and second panel halves.
 3. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 2, wherein two said fastener holes are formed in said inner end portion of said second panel half, said fastening member being in the form of a cord that has a fixed section fixed to a bottom surface of said inner end portion of said first panel half and two cord sections extending from said fixed section and respectively passing through said fastener holes in said inner end portion of said second panel half and then tied into a knot, said inner end portions of said first and second panel halves being separable when said knot is untied.
 4. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 2, wherein one row of said fastener holes is formed in said inner end portion of each of said first and second panel halves.
 5. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 4, wherein said fastening member is in the form of a cord that threads through said fastener holes in said inner end portions of said first and second panel halves, said inner end portions being separable when said cord is pulled out from said fastener holes.
 6. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 4, wherein said fastening member is in the form of a rod that threads through said fastener holes in said inner end portions of said first and second panel halves, said inner end portions being separable when said rod is pulled out from said fastener holes.
 7. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 4, wherein said fastener holes extend through said flexible base panel in a direction parallel to a thickness direction of said flexible base panel.
 8. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 4, wherein said fastener holes extend through said flexible base panel in a direction perpendicular to a thickness direction of said flexible base panel.
 9. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 4, wherein said fastener unit further includes a plurality of wear-resistant tubular sleeves respectively disposed in said fastener holes.
 10. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flexible base panel is rectangular, and said hanging strap assembly includes four hanging straps.
 11. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 10, wherein said hanging straps are respectively connected to four corners of said flexible base panel.
 12. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 10, wherein said hanging straps are respectively connected to four lateral edges of said flexible base panel.
 13. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flexible base unit further includes a plurality of reinforcing straps fixed to bottom surfaces of said first and second panel halves.
 14. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a surrounding wall which includes two surrounding wall halves, each of said surrounding wall halves extending upwardly from an outer peripheral edge of a respective one of said first and second panel halves.
 15. The flexible freight bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said inner end portions of said first and second panel halves are overlapped with each other.
 16. A method of transferring cargo, comprising: lifting a flexible freight bag from a storage container using a lifting machine, the flexible freight bag being loaded with a cargo and including a flexible base unit including first and second panel halves that are interconnected to form a flexible base panel, the first and second panel halves having adjacent inner end portions that are fastened to each other to form a seam across the flexible base panel, a hanging strap assembly connected to the flexible base unit, and a fastener unit attached to the inner end portions of the first and second panel halves; transporting the flexible freight bag from the storage container to a shipping container; and detaching the fastener unit from the at least one of the inner end portions so as to separate the inner end portions and to permit falling of the cargo into the shipping container by gravity.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein a worker or the machine is located at a position outside the range of the falling cargo when the step of detaching the fastener unit from the at least one of the inner end portions is performed.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the fastener unit includes at least two fastener holes formed in the inner end portion of at least one of the first and second panel halves, and a fastening member threading through the fastener holes, the fastening member being in the form of a cord that has two cord sections respectively passing through the fastener holes and then tied into a knot with two free end portions extending downwardly from the knot, the length of each of the free end portions being larger than a shortest distance between the knot and a lateral edge of the flexible base panel so that a worker or the machine can be located at a position outside the range of the falling cargo when performing the step of detaching the fastener unit from the at least one of the inner end portions, said inner end portions of said first and second panel halves being separable when the knot is untied.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the fastener unit includes one row of fastener holes formed in the inner end portion each of the first and second panel halves, and a fastening member threading through the fastener holes in the inner end portions of the first and second panel halves, said inner end portions being separable when the fastening member is pulled out from the fastener holes.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the fastening member has two opposite ends each attached with a pull ring. 